Someone to care for
by Dosu2Dinner
Summary: The Doctor couldn't bear to let the only other surviving member of his race die, but at the same time, he knew the only safe place for the Master was the TARDIS. Had he made a good decision, or will it be the last mistake he ever made? My first DW fic.


**OK, so here's my first DW fic! Please be patient if it is terrible.**

**So, the other day I was thinking (I'm sure quite a lot of us did) what if, in The Last of the Time Lords, the Master had not got shot, and the Doctor had kept him in the TARDIS? Yeah, an overused idea I'm sure, but I figured I could write it too. So yeah, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. That would be quite a burden if I did…**

**Chapter 1: A matter of choice.**

The energy…the smell…the power…this room bled it; there was no doubt about that.

It couldn't quite be found in the control room, but this section practically leaked Gallifreyan. The raw aura that came only from a Time Lord, and perhaps even the voices…

The Master closed his eyes. Perhaps he was simply going even more insane than he already was. That's what he'd been told. The Doctor may claim to value him as a Time Lord, but the Master knew that he was simply keeping him to state that he wasn't the last.

Had it his way, he would have been…

The renegade Time Lord rolled over onto his back. He might as well make use of the time he had…

And he had a lot of time imprisoned here for eternity. He kept his eyes closed and breathed in the Gallifreyan smell, at the same time he listened to the drumming.

Four beats, the same constant four beats. Coupled with the taste of his home planet. There had to be a connection.

There had to be…

It was not so easy to get into a Time Lord's head.

* * *

"OK!" the Doctor said jovially, the familiar smile back on his face. "Where to now? Right now there is a binary supernova explosion going on about three million light years away. An unforgettable sight to say the least, especially if you forget your sunglasses – which reminds me I must get them fixed…

"Or – back in time. There is so much in history that historians have only scratched the surface of. Am I the only one who wants to write a full biography of Edgar the Æthling? I guess so. I'll have to meet him first though…well, I already have, but that wasn't my preferred way of meeting. Getting held at sword-point kind of takes the joy out of it…"

Martha smiled slightly as she watched the familiar sight of the Doctor leaping around the TARDIS flicking switches and all the rest of it. She could tell he was putting on a front. The idea of keeping the only other Time Lord left in the universe imprisoned after he enslaved the human race must be distressing for him. She had considered this as she had settled her family back in. It then of course occurred to her that he must be putting on fronts all of the time. Superficially, he may be as high as a kite, but deep down, he was a lonely old man who had seen terrible things nobody else could possibly imagine. It was this, she supposed, which made her eventually decide to stay.

Of course, given what her family had gone through, she would have stayed with them permanently. They needed that support. But with the Master on board, she thought, so did the Doctor.

It was strange. Martha had never thought she would be the one to care for the Doctor. Considering he was a time-travelling alien with 900 years of experience under his belt, shouldn't it be the other way round?

But now here she was. Hopping between TARDIS life and home life, caring for two very different groups of people.

"Well? It's up to you!" the Doctor concluded, hovering his fingers over the switches, flashing a white-toothed smile.

Martha shrugged.

"I dunno. Surprise me," she said.

The Doctor's grin broadened.

"Off we go!" he said, beginning to work the controls.

* * *

The Master began to choke. This time energy was over-whelming him. The TARDIS must be in flight. There could be little other explanation.

He growled slightly to himself as he sat upright. The drumming was growing fainter…what could this mean?

He was determined to find a meaning for the drumming. It had been plaguing him ever since he had turned himself human. Had it been lying dormant before then though? Had the Untempered Schism done it to him?

All these questions. And yet he would not let them get to him.

Or the Doctor.

* * *

The TARDIS landed.

"Right!" the Doctor said, running towards the door and grabbing his trench coat. "Mystery tour! Out there could be any planet in any galaxy throughout the entire universe, and any date from the Big Bang to the Big Yawn…or the Big Crunch, depending on which theory you go with. I mean, I can't say we saw anything of the sort when we visited the year one hundred trillion, just a bunch of fanged men and…"

He broke off.

"…anyway, let's go see where we are!"

He opened the door and strode out, Martha following him. She gasped.

"Oh…wow…" was all she could say.

Despite her many travels with the Doctor, she had never seen anything quite as incredible as this. They were standing on a breathtakingly beautiful beach, with shimmering crystalline white sand being gently lapped at by sapphire waves, also glittering innocently.

The Doctor shaded his eyes and gave a glance upwards. The sun, he noticed, had a gorgeous lilac tinge to it. The whole place looked like a holiday brochure. It was perfect.

Too perfect…

"I'm gonna go get my beach stuff!" Martha said excitedly, running back into the TARDIS.

"You actually brought it with you then?" the Doctor asked, pulling his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket.

"It always helps to be prepared," she called back.

The Doctor began to scan the lilac sun. The results he got where unbelievable.

"You're not going to be able to get a tan from this, Martha," the Doctor concluded, as she walked out of the TARDIS in a purple bikini and carrying a beach towel. "This sun is made from anti-electromagnetic argon plasma. It has no electromagnetic radiation whatsoever. The heat and light we're getting from it is entirely synthetic."

Martha shrugged.

"It works for me," she replied, placing her towel onto the sand and lying down.

The Doctor nodded. "Course," he replied. "Yeah, course."

He stood there for a minute.

"Actually," he said. "There's something here that's seriously wrong."

"How do you mean?" Martha asked, sitting up.

"This heat and light," the Doctor explained, walking up to her. "Isn't just synthetic, it's an illusion. This is a perfect holiday beach, designed purposefully with a purple sun that won't give you sunburn."

"Yeah. So?" Martha replied.

"So…" the Doctor continued. "Where are the holiday-makers?"

"…"

It was one of those moments where the Doctor pointed out the absolute obvious, and you kicked yourself for not realising it. Martha surveyed the deserted beach, wondering, and as she did so, felt a leaden feeling settle into her stomach.

"Maybe…" the Doctor continued, "There's a reason for this. Let's go and find out."

And he strode off. Martha quickly got up and followed him.

"Well…what do you think's wrong?" she asked.

"No idea," he replied. "That's why I'm investigating."

"_Well, he's got me there,"_ Martha thought.

At first where they were seemed to be nothing but beach, but as they walked on, they found a clump of trees heralding the opening to small woodland area.

"Come on," the Doctor said, entering the forest. Martha followed, wincing slightly as she strode across the twigs and needles in her bare feet.

"Aha!"

The Doctor let out a triumphant exclamation as he discovered what he was looking for.

Martha followed his pointing finger with her eyes. She saw great strings of green, almost luminescent stuff strewn all over the tree stumps. She grimaced slightly.

"What is it?"

The Doctor leaned forward, scooped some the stuff onto his finger and tasted it.

"Hmm…blood. Judging by its colour and relative glucose and iron content, I'd say it was…"

His face lit up.

"Rutan! That's it! It's got to be Rutan blood!"

"But what's it doing here?" Martha asked.

"This place must have belonged to them," the Doctor explained. "As a holiday resort or…maybe something else. But…somebody's been killing them. And for me, there's only one guess who…"

The sound of a hi-tech gun cocking reached their ears.

"Alright!" a booming voice called. "Come out where we can see you with your hands up!"

"Let's go meet them," the Doctor said, with a smile, raising his hands and walking beyond the shade of the trees, Martha closely following him.

Two short figures in immaculate dark blue armour with potato shaped helmets and fully armed were waiting for them.

"Sontarans!" the Doctor exclaimed in a sort of grim delight. "Decided to annex this place, eh?"

"All for the glory of Sontar!" one of the Sontarans declared. The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Thought so," he said. "You see, Martha, the Sontarans have been at war with the Rutans for 50,000 years. They enjoy nicking random planets of each other when not in open battle. Keeps the war adrenalin going."

"I've run a scan," one the Sontarans said to the other. "They're not Rutans."

"I know," the other replied. "But the male seems to know far too much about us and our motives for an outsider. He should be erased."

"I think you'll find it difficult to erase me," the Doctor replied calmly.

"Et cetera," the Sontaran snorted, pulling a small device from his belt. He flashed a small blue light at the Doctor with it before stowing it back into his belt.

"What about the other one?" his companion asked.

"She's female, seems to know nothing about us, and can't even dress properly," the first one replied. "We can't waste our stocks on such beings. Let's return to the command centre."

They then both teleported away.

"What was that?" Martha said, confused. "They said they would erase you…what was that light all about?"

"No idea," the Doctor admitted. "But if the Sontarans have got a secret weapon, then we need to ensure they don't use it. It could disastrous effects for races beside the Rutans. Come on!"

They both ran back to the TARDIS. The Doctor quickly grabbed his monitoring screen and began to set a scan for dangerous energy.

"Should be somewhere on the planet if they're prepared to…ow, my hand's gone numb…"

Martha looked on in horror as an eerie blue light began to cover the Doctor's right hand. The Doctor simply stared at it in amazement.

"Anti-energy…" he muttered. "Completely destroying my ability to move or…"

"Doctor!" Martha cried as the light began to descend all the way down his arm, moving onto his chest, his other arm, his legs…

"Doctor, what…what am I supposed to…?"

But the anti-energy had now completely concealed the Doctor's body. He couldn't speak, nor make any movement at all. Did that mean all his bodily reactions had stopped also?

His rigid, glowing body then simply keeled over and collapsed. It lay there on the floor, not moving, just luminescent.

"Doctor!" Martha shouted. He didn't respond.

So, this was the Sontaran's secret weapon, Martha thought, somewhat bewildered. It was certainly effective. She didn't know what to do. She didn't even know if she could touch the Doctor's glowing body without getting absorbed by the anti-energy herself. She couldn't fly the TARDIS – in fact, with the Doctor in this state, she was pretty much useless. She supposed that it was a shame that she hadn't got caught in it herself. If the Doctor had been free from it, he would've known what to do.

However…

There was someone else on board, who Martha knew, shared that knowledge, those centuries of experience. But she also knew that letting the Master out would be suicide.

To be honest though, did she really have any choice?

**Cliffhanger!**

**OK, so, remember, first DW fic guys! ****I know it's probably pretty basic, but give me time, and I'm sure my chapters will improve. Read and Review, and also, a word about my Naruto fics. If you are a frequent reader of them, rest assured they will be updated soon. I'm not sure when, due to writer's block, but I am NOT giving up on them, so yeah.**

**Anyway, review the fic, even if you think it's of poor quality (though make sure the criticism you give is constructive), if you like it, tell your friends, and above all, have a great morning/afternoon/evening/night! **


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